A sterilizer for sterilizing an object to be sterilized is conventionally proposed, in which ultraviolet rays are emitted from low-pressure mercury vapor by irradiating microwaves, and the ultraviolet rays are further irradiated to the object to be sterilized for processing the serialization.
FIG. 24 shows a sterilizing method for medical implements (first prior art) shown in, for example, Publication Gazette of Japanese Patent Application 2001-145688. Since the medical implements are generally made of metals, the medical implements cannot directly be put into an inside of a microwave generator such as a microwave oven. Thus, a glass bulb 152 into which low-pressure mercury vapor is enclosed and objects 153 to be sterilized are disposed in a container 151 which is filled by water, and the container 151 is put into an inside of a microwave oven 150. Then, microwaves are generated by activating the microwave oven 150, and the microwaves are irradiated to the bulb 152. Mercury vapor in the bulb 152 is excited by energy of the microwaves, and ultraviolet rays having a predetermined wavelength are emitted, so that the objects 153 are sterilized owing to the ultraviolet rays. In FIG. 24, numerals 154 designate ventilation openings provided on a housing of the microwave oven 150.
FIG. 25 shows a sterilizing method of containers such as glass bottles (second prior art) shown in, for example, Publication Gazette of Japanese Patent Application 10-502563 (corresponding to WO96/09842). Under a condition that a narrow glass bulb 156, into which low-pressure mercury vapor is enclosed, is suspended in an inside of an object 157 to be sterilized, the object 157 with the bulb 156 is put into an inside of a microwave generator 158. Then, microwaves are irradiated for emitting ultraviolet rays, so that inner faces of the object 157 are sterilized. In FIG. 25, numerals 159 designate energies of microwaves, and numerals 160 designate energies of ultraviolet rays.
FIG. 26 shows a sterilizing method of contact lenses (third prior art) shown in, for example, Publication Gazette of Japanese Patent Application 2000-507140 (corresponding to WO97/35624). A container 162A and a cap 162B are respectively formed midair by glass or the like, and low-pressure mercury vapor is enclosed into midair portions of them. Under a condition that objects 163 are contained in the inside of the container 162A and the cap 162B is fitted to the container 162, the container 162A with the cap 162B is put into an inside of a microwave generator 164. Then, microwaves are irradiated for irradiating ultraviolet rays to the objects 163 from the container 162A and the cap 162B, so that sterilizing of the objects is processed.
In the above-mentioned first prior art, since the bulb 152 and the objects 153 are send on the bottom of the container 151 filled by water, the ultraviolet rays emitted from the bulb 153 are not necessarily irradiated to whole of the objects 153 evenly. Thus, there is a possibility that sterilized portions and not sterilized portions are generated on the object 153. Furthermore, since the relative positional relationship between the bulb 152 and each of the objects 153 is instable, when a table of the microwave oven 150 rotates, the positional relationship between the bulb 152 and the object 153 varies. Thus, there is a possibility that sufficient serialization effect cannot be obtained.
The above-mentioned second prior art relates to the serialization procedure of the returnable bottles, which needs a dedicated apparatus used in a supplier refilling the contents of the bottle, so that it is not suitable for sterilizing the container readily in the home. Furthermore, when there is convex and concave structure on inner faces of the container like the wine bottle, the ultraviolet rays cannot be irradiated to shaded portion due to the convex and concave structure, so that the serialization procedure may be incomplete.
In the above-mentioned third prior art, since the container 162A and the cap 162B themselves have bulb function for emitting the ultraviolet rays, the structures of the container 162A and the cap 162B become complex and the manufacturing costs of them become higher. Furthermore, since the container 162A and the cap 162B are the glass midair body and strengths of them are lower to be easily broken, they require careful handling.
When the microwave oven for home use is used as the microwave generator, the ultraviolet rays are leaked to outside of the microwave oven through the ventilation openings (see numerals 154 in FIG. 24), so that there is a fear that the ultraviolet rays damages eyes of a user who processes the serialization of the objects.